SpaceX completes Flight Qualification Testing of Merlin 1D Engine

March 20, 2013

Photo: SpaceX

The SpaceX Merlin 1D liquid-fueled rocket engine has achieved flight qualification ahead of its first flight aboard the upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 later this year, SpaceX announced in a press release on Wednesday. The engine that is based on the previously used Merlin 1C went through a 28 test qualification program, accumulating 1,970 seconds (32 minutes 50 seconds) of total test time. The testing included four tests at or above the power and duration required for a nominal Falcon 9 launch and Merlin 1D completed tests at propellant inlet and operating conditions that are well outside the parameters expected in flight conditions. "SpaceX's testing program demonstrated a ratio of 4:1 for critical engine life parameters such as firing duration and restart capacity to the engine's expected flight requirements," SpaceX said in a press release. “The Merlin 1D successfully performed every test throughout this extremely rigorous qualification program,” said Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and chief designer.

“With flight qualification now complete, we look forward to flying the first Merlin 1D engines on Falcon 9’s Flight 6 this year.”

The upgraded Falcon 9 featuring the Merlin 1D will make its first flight in June 2013, launching out of Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, to deliver the Cassiope satellite to orbit for the Canadian Space Agency.

This new version of the Falcon 9 stands 69.2 meters tall having a liftoff weight of 480,000kg with stretched propellant tanks feeding the nine Merlin 1D engines of the first and the single engine of the second stage. Merlin 1D provides a vacuum thrust of 720 Kilonewtons as compared to the 1C version that provides 480kN of vacuum thrust. Falcon 9 v1.1 will be capable of carrying payloads of up to 13,150 Kilograms to Low Earth Orbit and 4,850 Kilograms to Geostationary Transfer Orbit.

Although Merlin 1D is an upgraded version of the 1C, it can still build on the positive flight record of the 1C engines because both share a lot of common components. “It's a much higher-thrust engine, but surprisingly a lot of the infrastructure of that engine is the same,” said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell.

The first stage of the Falcon 9 v1.1 will feature a new engine layout with the nine engines arranged in an octagonal/circular pattern - eight engines clustered around a single Merlin 1D. The skin of the launcher is the primary load path for the launch vehicle and arranging most of the engines on the perimeter of the skin eliminates a lot of structure that needs to be installed to carry loads from the engines to the skin. The original Falcon features a tic-tac-toe engine pattern which required these load-transferring structures.

With the first launch of the Falcon 9 v1.1 just three months away, SpaceX is looking at a very tight manifest of launches. Falcon 9 v1.1 is set to deliver a variety of spacecraft to orbit for a number of different customers. The launcher will deploy communications satellites for commercial operators, scientific satellites for space agencies and of course the Dragon Spacecraft for ISS resupply missions and eventual manned missions.

Photo: SpaceX

Please consider supporting this website by making a small donation. Our reader's support keeps the site open & improving.